Market
researchers toil away tirelessly compiling statistics, but often
offer confusingly contradictory figures. Such discrepancies
were on display with a new study from Nielsen that offers a very
favorable perspective on Apple's market position.

Nielsen's report paints
a far different picture. It claims Apple has three times the
market share of Google's smartphone operating system -- with 28
percent of the market versus 9 percent from Android. The
Nielsen study claims to report national smartphone
numbers -- so U.S. only. That's about the only possible
explanation for the big discrepancy between it's claim of the
smartphone ratio (3:1 in Apple's favor) versus Gartner's
(3:2).

Nielsen also reports that Android is struggling with a
familiar problem that faces many of Apple's foes -- the blind,
unquestioning loyalty of its fans. Despite hot Android
handsets, perennial issues like Flash blocking, and Jobs's policing
of "immoral" content (like pornography), 80 percent of
iPhone users plan on buying another iPhone (only 7 percent plan to
switch to Android). That compares favorably to Android, which
has only 70 percent of customers wanting to stay aboard and 14
percent looking to jump ship to Apple.

The report also
indicates that Apple users on average are richer than Android users.
Approximately 40 percent of iPhone users make over $100,000 USD,
while only 28 percent of Android users make that much.
Likewise, 36 percent of Android users make under $50,000
USD, while only 18 percent of iPhone users make that little.

Other
than some interesting analysis about Apple and Google's current
position, the new Nielsen study also offers insight into the growth
of the smartphone market as a whole. The study says that in
three quarters -- from Q2 2009 to Q1 2010 -- the smartphone market
grew from 16 percent of the total (national) phone market to 23
percent of the market.

"I want people to see my movies in the best formats possible. For [Paramount] to deny people who have Blu-ray sucks!" -- Movie Director Michael Bay